Sandia National Laboratories

Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore was established in 1956 and, combined with its Albuquerque, New Mexico, location, is the largest Department of Energy national security research facility. Sandia/California employs some 1,100 staff members and contractors, post-doctoral fellows, and students who share the goal of applying science and technology to create a more peaceful and secure world.

Sandia grew out of the Manhattan project, and maintaining the safety, security and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile remains the foundation of their work. They provide crucial systems engineering capabilities to their sister laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Building on this core scientific knowledge, Sandia/California cultivates multiple capabilities in biosciences, cyber security, energy, materials science, engineering and systems analysis to anticipate and respond to the evolving national security landscape, accelerating innovation in all that we do. Today, their mission spans many national security needs, including areas such as homeland security, transportation energy and bioscience.

Examples of current Sandia/California projects or programs include:

• Sandia researchers have developed a lab-on-a-disk platform, SpinDx, that they believe will be faster, less expensive and more versatile than similar medical diagnostic tools. The portable instrument can determine a patient’s white blood cell count, analyze important protein markers, and process up to 64 assays from a single small sample, all in a matter of minutes saving time and money for doctor’s offices and emergency rooms.

• The conceptual models for partially premixed low-temperature diesel combustion (LTC), developed at Sandia’s Combustion Research Facility, provide the necessary science base for auto and engine manufacturers to build the next generation of cleaner, more fuel-efficient diesel engines. The increased efficiency also translates into lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which are a major driver of global climate change.

• The homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine, developed at Sandia’s Combustion Research Facility (CRF), which has caught the attention of automotive and diesel engine manufacturers worldwide. The HCCI engine has demonstrated the potential to rival the high efficiency of diesel engines while keeping emissions low.

• A cyber security project known as “MegaDroid” is part of ongoing research at Sandia to help prevent and mitigate disruptions to computer networks on the Internet, including smartphones and other hand-held computing devices. Sandia cyber researchers linked together 300,000 virtual hand-held computing devices running the Android operating system so they can study large networks of smart phones and find ways to make them more reliable and secure.

Although Sandia is a government research and development laboratory directed to meet the nation’s security needs, Sandia also welcomes commercial and business partnership opportunities. Sandia actively seeks to partner with private companies, universities, and state and government agencies. The Livermore Valley Open Campus, a partnership between Sandia National Labs and Lawrence Livermore National Lab, is expanding opportunities for researchers and external partners to collaborate on some of the toughest technical challenges facing our nation and the world.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated and managed by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California, Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.